Apple Stamps

To finish off the gifts for my son's preschool teachers, we (I say we, but in all honesty, if I say anything with enough enthusiasm my older son happily agrees) decided to do up the apple theme just a bit more.  We decided to apple stamp the pencil pouches and tote bags.  So I apple stamped 2 tote bags and 2 pencil pouches.  They turned out great and the first two were well received by Maben's afternoon art teachers.  We get to deliver the other two later this week to his Spanish teachers. 

So, I thought I would show you how to do apple stamping because it is SOOOO easy!  You will need fabric paint or in my case, acrylic paint with textile medium.  I had no fabric paint on hand, but lots of acrylic paint, so I spent less money to buy the textile medium than I would have to get fabric paint.  You will also need a paint brush, an apple, a leaf, a paper plate and your item to stamp.

Slice your apple near the center. You want to pick out the seeds.  You can use half the apple or make a small slice.  I prefer the small slice so I can eat the rest of the apple not being used.  This also helps if you don't cut the apple perfectly flat, so you can press all the paint down because the apple will bend slightly.

When using the textile medium, mix it 50/50 with the acrylic paint to create fabric paint.  Paint the front of the apple generously, then press firmly onto your fabric.  Make sure you don't use too much paint, because it can seep through the fabric.  So to be careful you can place a piece of cardboard in between the layers of fabric. 

Take your leaf and paint the smooth side generously and stamp that the same way you did the apple.  Once the paint dries, you are done!  If you need it to dry a little faster, you can use a hairdryer on a low setting to help speed things along.  Make sure you rinse your paintbrush with cold water, as hot water can actually cause the paint to set in the brush and render it useless.

The first pencil pouch done

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the second pencil pouch, but it turned out great.

This is the first tote bag.

The second and last tote bag.